Four Swords Anniversary Edition Announced

Just shown at the conference. But don't be lost, Hyrule Blog already prepared all the infos about this game! Some of these infos are exlusive to Hyrule Blog. PLEASE DO NOT POST ANYWHERE ELSE WITHOUT CREDITING!

• There's a singleplayer mode similar to the one in Four Swords Adventures. It is based on the two player mode, so you only control two Links at the same time.
• You can switch between both Links whenever you want. But there's also a mode, where the second Link follows you around. There he will automatically perform actions to assist you in certain situations. For example if you get near a large block, he'll "warp" to your side and start pushing it with you.
  
  
  
  
• There are two new stages, each one has three doors similar to Vaati's Palace leading to different areas. Each area will have three floors, but no bosses. The areas won't be randomised.
• Instead of keys for Vaati's Palace you will receive the unlockable sword moves, the Sword Beam and the Hurricane Spin Attack, at the end of the new stages.
• The first stage is called "Realm of Memories", it features several retro themed levels and gets unlocked after beating Vaati's Palace once. There will be areas in the style of The Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening. The visuals will fully change into the different classic styles, for example the Link's Awakening area will be oldschool GameBoy monochrome.
  
  
  
  
• The second stage is called "Hero's Trial" and really challenging compared to the rest of the game. It got some new settings like a wintery forest and features mass enemy fights like in Four Swords Adventures, something the GameBoy Advance game originally couldn't do. The stage gets unlocked after accumulating 30,000 Rupees from all levels. There's a now a total score of Rupees and each time after beating a level your Rupees get add to this score.
  
  
  
  
• They added certain other stuff from Four Swords Adventures. For example when standing on buttons the Links will be holding up their swords and scream "hiyaah" when completing a level.
• The Medals of Courage earned in multiplayer don't serve any real purpose this time except for bragging rights. Everything can be unlocked in singleplayer, luckily.
• It will be available for both DSi(XL) and 3DS with cross platform play. No online or Download Play though.
• This is how the DSi menu icon looks like:
  
  
  
  
  
• The game is called The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords - (25th) Anniversary Edition
• It will be released September 28th FOR FREE. It will only be available until February 20th 2012 though.

What can I say? What can I say except that this is probably the greatest anniversary gift ever? Because it is. The orchestra is epic, the music CDs are nice and the golden Wiimote is a must-buy, but this... they put real effort into the new version of Four Swords, into something released for free. And they made all my dreams about Four Swords (yes, both of them) come true. I will be finally be able to enjoy this game whenever I want. And the new stages are really cool and absolutely add something to the game. My biggest complaint about Ocarina of Time 3D was the lack of a bonus dungeon. Now we know why, they put all their bonus dungeon making energy into Four Swords AE.

Thank you, Nintendo! This is awesome!


UPDATE: The game will only be available for a limited time (source), from September 28th to February 20th 2012. That is the date when the 25th Anniversary ends (it started February 21st 2011). If this means that it will be completely gone then, this would suck and I would have to buy a 3DS now... so, this isn't just generosity after all, it might motivate some people to buy a 3DS or at least a DSi until that date.

Also, check out the nice trailer.